Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-07-08
BAKU'S FOUNTAINS.
The PERSIAN RIVAL OF PENNSYL-
VANIA'S PETROLEUM FIELDS.

A Great Town Built Upon the Spot Hero
tofore Held Sacred by the Fire Wor-
Shipping Ghebres-Twelve Thousand
Square .Eiles of OIL Region.
The great town Of Baku has now .
coast line of about six miles, sweeping
around well protected harbor crowded
with shipping-ships of all tonnage, all
fitted with tanks to store the Oil that
oours from a hundred fountains. From
time immemorial this spot has been
leemed sacred by the Ghebres of Persia,
who recognize in the fame of the native
naphtha sacred fire symbol. Here for at
least 1900 years the sacred earth fed flame
has burned increasingly, and the temple
IF Surukhai has been a center of reyer-
INT pilgrimage. This native naphtha flows
from the sol in so pure form as to burn
without rcctification, and is, indeed, so in
| iammable that the naphtha gas occas-
ionaly ignites spontaneously and plays
| in pale flames above assures in the rock.
On stormy nights these flames have been
seen to blaze up with an awful spirit
| light, which, to the eyes of the Ghebres,
invested the spot with special sanctity-a
sanctity intensified by the fact that here,
| according to Arabian chroniclers, a great
volcanic mountain was in full action till
800 years ago. Since then the thermal
| forces have expended their energies on
,pouting Oh and Herewith saturating the
iesert plain Of the Aspheros peninsula;
md truly more repulsive site for great
city could not well be found.
1t is @ plain about fifteen miles in width
and projecting thirty miles into the Cas-
plan from the point where the Caucasus
terminates on its shores. The whole sur
lace of II ground is black with waste
petroleum, which in cold weather hardens
20 the consistency Of asphalt, whereas be-
meath the blazing midsummer sun the
loot sinks in to the depth of two or three
inches. Livery breath of wind raises
binding clouds of black, bituminous dust,
formed by The coarse black naphtha with
which tho streets are periodically EVA
tered" i-',,e water being too precious to
be thus Wasted This dust, combined
with TIC dense smoke poured from the
chimrcy3 CT somewhere about scr. refin-
ing factories, does nothing to iInpTe,e the
atmosphere. And here, day anu night,
the Oil fountains pour forth their hideous
black streams. They yield an average Of
from ~ 10 80 per cent. Of pure oil, and
from 90 TO 80 per cent. Of refuse, which
makes excellent fuel for the great fleets
Of oil steamers and locomotives The
supply may well be deemed ineXhaustible,
inasmuch rs 1900 square miles in this
region Gre found to be oleiferous, and of
this vast cr,rface only six miles have as
yet been developed The oil bearing
stratum c-tonds beneath the Caspian,
where il ops up in Tehelikan, true isle
of Oil. Ire the oil literally streams into
the sec from hills and cliffs, which may be
said TO be formed of ozoker te-in other
words, Of c-udo paraffine. On the eastern
shore Of tho Caspian it rcappears at various
points, cs, for instance, at tho Neft or
Naphtha hill, where the deposits are Of
ticially vclucd at e35, 100000.
TIE FIRE GIANTS SPORT.
Now, tho Gre giant who tends the great
laboratory beneath the Caspian seems to
emulate tho example Of bis brethren in
New Zealand and Tonga. Hitherto he has
been satisfied with such sport as turning
on such en- oil stream as that which gushed
forth tllrco years. ago from ono of the
Baku springs, spouting with such force as
to break TO pieces three inch cast iron
pipe which had been fastened over the
well in order to divert the ilow to diff
ferent direction. A neighboring oil spring,
on being tapped, threw up q column of
petroleum to twice the height of the
Great Gcyscr in Iceland, forming huge
black fountain 200 feet in height-a foun-
tain, however, attributed solely to the re-
moval OF tae pressure on the confined gas,
rs there is no perceptible heat in these
geysers. It was visible for many miles
around, and On the first day it poured
forth about $4,000 barrels, and, with
gradually diminishing volume, continued
to play for five months, when it finally
subsidized, leaving it's unfortu nate owners
tan Armenian company well nigh ruined
by the claims brought against it by neigh
bors whose lands were destroyed by the
oil flood.
On the night of the 18th of January
the inhabitants of Bakt We're awakened
by q violent shock, which caused all the
windows to rattle, and suddenly the dark
ness of the night was illuminated by an
intense light, as though the city were
aiame. 1t proved, however, to be the
reflection on tho heavens Of great fire
at distance; but no one dreamt that its
locality lay within the earth Nor was
this realized till the following night, when
the same awful glare became visible; and
shortly before midnight terrible explo-
sion was heard, followed by vast column
of flame apparently $50 feet in height,
which shot up from the summit of I.ok
Batan, ClCsc to the Ponta railway station.
1t was Il calm night, with scal.cely O.
breath Of Wind, so the flames continued
to ascend Iuite vertically, carrying large
masses OF dark matter, which fell back
into the crater. Considerable heat was
felt at the distance of fully q mile, and
the whole country was lighted by glare
brighter than that Of the sun at monday.
This lasted for about thirty hours, but
not continuously, the column occasionally
subsiding. The volume of liquid mud
elected in this period overspread tract
of about square mile to depth varying
from seven 70 fourteen feet.-New York
Star.
Russian Peasants Migrating to Siberia.
The tide of emigration Of the Russian
peasantry into Siberia is largely on the in
crease. There is no official registration of
the numbers; but in 1886 there passed
through Syzra.d alone $500, coming from
the central provinces. Others in large
numbers proceed by sea to the Amoor in
the far east. The disturbance Of popula-
ton is not limited to movement beyond
the European frontiers, but prevails &C
lively within it.
One hundred thousand colonists have